  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 09/01/2014 PreS-Gr 2—As an unnamed boy steps outside into the winter snow, he discovers a fantastical playground for his imagination to run rampant. He rouses an imaginary snow friend, a castle, and even a dragon that takes flight across the wintery pages. The brief text has a pleasant simplicity that rambles with a tempered pace while focusing attention on the more weighty and inspiring pictures. Often occurring within sentences, the page turns feel a bit choppy but don't distract too much from the imaginative narrative, inscribed with a touch of poetry. Although there is also something slightly disjointed about the story—in particular, a scene where the snow friend is left behind while the protagonist takes off with the dragon, this book is a solid purchase. The oil-paint illustrations have a likable levity, such as in the boy's slack expression of boredom as he steps backward into the snow, his brother having refused to come out and play. Gill's use of color highlights the boy's red coat, the soft greens of the house, and the golden orange of the dragon, and maintains a lively air despite the soft browns and icy blue shades mixed into the austere landscape. Complete with a nod or two to Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, Outside is a fun opportunity to take a leap of the imagination into softly rendered wintery pages and settle into the wonderland of the outside world.—Erin Reilly-Sanders, Ohio State University, Columbus - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 11/01/2014 This debut picture book makes a strong case for the superiority of imaginative play over that of TV, computer games, and so on. Two boys are stuck inside the house after a massive snowstorm. The smaller boy tries to get the older one to play in the snow, but he refuses, so the younger one ventures out alone. From the moment that the boy falls backward off the bottom step, making a snow angel, readers will feel that they’ve left a crowded, stuffy interior for a blank white canvas alive with possibility. Action and fantasy build as the boy rolls a small snowball through the forest until it becomes a massive snow statue that comes alive and plays with the boy. The duo build a turreted snow castle that’s visited by a calm-looking dragon, which carries the boy on its back over the forest and all the way home. Gill’s oil-on-paper illustrations, shifting from white to golden to blue, transport the reader through an eventful snow day. Both boys playing outside at book’s end provide a satisfying resolution. - Copyright 2014 Booklist. Loading...
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